Lithodes aotearoa

Crustaceans
IUCN: Not evaluated

Usual depth650–1,047 m
Water temperature-0–17 °C
Best monthsNovember
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Te Papa Museum, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Lithodes aotearoa is a species of king crab endemic to New Zealand. It had formerly been confused with L. longispina and L. murrayi, which until 2010 were thought to occur in the region. It is the second most widespread and common lithodid in New Zealand waters after Neolithodes brodiei, and the New Zealand Department of Conservation classifies it as "Not Threatened".

Text from the Wikipedia article “Lithodes aotearoa”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 10 records
February: 0 records
March: 3 records
April: 8 records
May: 0 records
June: 5 records
July: 3 records
August: 1 records
September: 1 records
October: 1 records
November: 21 records
December: 6 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 650–1,047 m · Deepest record: 1,491 m

250–260 m: 1 records
260–270 m: 0 records
270–280 m: 0 records
280–290 m: 0 records
290–300 m: 0 records
300–310 m: 0 records
310–320 m: 0 records
320–330 m: 0 records
330–340 m: 0 records
340–350 m: 1 records
350–360 m: 1 records
360+ m: 99 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of -0–17 °C

-2–0 °C: 1 records
0–2 °C: 0 records
2–4 °C: 0 records
4–6 °C: 0 records
6–8 °C: 2 records
8–10 °C: 12 records
10–12 °C: 27 records
12–14 °C: 40 records
14–16 °C: 21 records
16–18 °C: 3 records

Names and classification

Similar species

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
141 open-data records from 1965 to 2024.
Species data updated November 4, 2026.

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